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"General, do you mean that as long as the name on that edict isn't yours, we can support the deposed crown prince's son? But how can you be sure that Zheng Chunhua gave birth to a boy?" the advisor asked. (This article was first published on lwxiaoshuo.)
"What she gives birth to doesn't matter, all we need is a reputation! A banner. All we need to do is find a boy of similar age," Fourteen said.
"We must act without delay and find a way to capture Zheng Chunhua and bring him under our control!" the advisor said.
“Exactly. She’s currently at Changchun Garden, so it wouldn’t be difficult to get her out, but the sudden disappearance of such a person might attract attention,” the advisor said.
"Send people in immediately to investigate. It turns out she disappeared from the palace all those years ago and hid here! It's said she was pregnant at the time, and what happened to the child! Father Emperor didn't have the heart to kill this woman after all; it's a disgrace." A hint of surprise flashed in Fourteen's eyes as he spoke.
"General, the sudden death of a palace maid or eunuch in the palace is nothing unusual," the advisor said.
"Then let's do it this way, get the person out first!" Fourteen said.
Meanwhile, the "palace maid" whom the Fourteenth Prince mistook for "Zheng Chunhua" was sitting in her room.
"Chunhua, don't go out around lately, or I'll be discovered again. Do you understand?" the old eunuch said.
“Father-in-law, I understand. Little Tuanzi, may I bring him over?” Zheng Chunhua asked. Her face was weathered by more than a decade of sorrow, with nasolabial folds and crow's feet around her eyes, making her look quite different from before.
"No. His Majesty has said that you can only see him once a month, which is already taking into account the deep bond between you and your son. Otherwise, he wouldn't have allowed you to see him even once," the old eunuch said.
The glimmer of hope in Zheng Chunhua's eyes dimmed as if a candle were being extinguished.
After the old eunuch left, Zheng Chunhua sat listlessly at the table, as if lifeless. To conceal her identity, the old eunuch had specially given her a separate room to live in, so that she would not live with the other palace maids.
Zheng Chunhua endured more than a decade of hardship in this very room, her youthful years slipping away in vain. She could only see the child twice a year, even though he was right here in the garden.
When Emperor Kangxi discovered that Zheng Chunhua was having an affair with the deposed crown prince and was pregnant, he was naturally furious and wished he could have her executed by slow slicing. However, the child in her womb prevented Kangxi from bringing himself to do such a cruel thing.
Not only were they not killed, but they also settled her here and allowed her to give birth to a child. The child was, after all, the Crown Prince's son and of the Aisin Gioro clan, so they couldn't bear to send him to an ordinary family to be raised. Instead, he was raised in this garden and cared for by others, but he had no name or surname, and no one knew him.
Zheng Chunhua has endured this ordeal, clinging to life, unable to let go of that child. She once hoped that person would come looking for her, but more than a decade has passed, and that person has never appeared again.
Because of the old eunuch's care, the other palace servants didn't dare to talk to her much, thinking she was a special person.
The deposed crown prince and his family have been secretly imprisoned by Emperor Kangxi. No one has told Zheng Chunhua about this so far, so she is unaware that the crown prince is in dire straits and will certainly not come to rescue her and her son.
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